Process of making paper dolls.



a. B MURPHY.

PROCESS OF MAKING PAPER DOLLS.

- APPLICATION .FILED AUG-l9. 1918.

1,287,399, Patented Dec. 10, [918.

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GEORGIA B. MURPHY, or JAMESTOWN, NEW'YORK.

PROCESS OF MAKING PAPER DOLLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

Application filed August 19, 1918. Serial No. 250,597.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGIA B. MURPHY, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Jamestown, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making Paper Dolls, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

The invention relates to paper dolls and the process of making the same; and the improvement consists in providing a rectangular sheet of paper of the desired size and weight for the doll having a doll design on one side and a plan of construction on the other so arranged that with a few simple cuts and manipulations said sheet ofpaper may be made into a pleasing doll and confection container by the child, thereby attaining an educational value through its constructional and artistic values so that said doll sheets may be used in kindergarten and similar training schools for young children, the construction being so simple that the average child unconsciously finds great delight as well as educational value in constructing and dressing the doll; and the invention consists in the doll and its process of construction and arrangement as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawings. Figure 1 is an elevation of a dressed girl doll made entirely from paper showing the pleasing appearance of the same as well as certain portions of the construction. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of said doll without the garment thereon showing that the tubular body of the doll is made in the form of a roll which may be used as a container for confections; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view at line 33 in Fig. 2 showing the construction and arrangement of the doll with the body filled with candy or other confection. Fig. t is a plan view of the outer side of the sheet of paper from which the .doll is made or rolled showing the manner of placing the design thereon; and Fig. 5 is a View of the other side of the same showing the construction and markings for the head and arms. Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan View of. the neck portion of the doll in process of construction showing the row of spaced slits in the paper and the manner of sewing the same so as to draw the stout thread and lap the strips one on another in order to contract said neck portion into the desired shape to provide the chin and lower portion of the head as well as the shoulders of the body portion. Fig. 7 is a crosswise sectional view at line 77 in Fig. 2 showing the manner of attaching the tubular arms to the tubular body portion after the neck has been shaped. Fig. 8 shows the simple roll for an arm with the wrist slits therein; and Fig. 9 shows the finished arm with the wrist contraction and the shaped hand. Fig. 10 is a plan view of the under side of the upper portions of the two arms showing the manner in which the strong thread is attached to the flattened upper ends of the doll, the ends being tied to one another in the arm pit at one side after passing through the doll body. Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the correctly rolled paper sheet, which forms the first step in making the tubular doll body. Fig. 12 is a plan view of the top of the head showing the preferred manner for gathering the crown strips into the rounded or crowning form and the manner of attaching the two main strips which hold the other crown strips in position. Fig. 13 is a front elevation of a tubular boy doll made in the same manner as the girl doll with the eX- ception of splitting the lower portion of the body tube to thereby provide legs for the boys suit or outer garments; and Fig. 14 is a front elevation of the boy doll without the outer garments and also without the binding strip which gives better form to the body of the doll; and Fig. 15 is a rear elevation of said boy doll with said binding strip in position thereon, also showing the tapered tubular roll legs with the feet turned thereon from the roll. Fig. 16 is a front elevation of the rolled doll sheet as shown in Fig. 11 with the addition ofthe partial lengthwise cut for the legs before said parts are rolled into the leg form as shown in Figs. 14: and 15. Fig. 17 is a plan view of the sheet of paper with a design thereon for'the boy doll and showing the arm portions outlined in one corner. Fig. 18 is a side view of the lower portion of one of the rolled legs, the crosswise cuts having been made in the front thereof preparatory to folding in the foot form; and Fig. 19 is a front elevation of the same leg portion with the lengthwise cuts extending down ward from said crosswise cuts to thereby permit the turning of the feet to simultaneously form a foot and shoe as shown in Fig. 20, the tie for the shoe holding the foot firmly in the folded position. Fig. also showing a perspective view of a detachable boot or shoe construction, the stiffness and spring of the paper holding the detachable shoe or boot on the lower end of the leg. Fig. 21 is a crosswise sectional View at line 2121 in Fig. 15 showing the upper ends of the cuts 51.

Like characters of reference refer to corresponding parts in the several views.

The process of making the paper doll is as follows: The numeral 25 designates the rectangular shaped sheet of paper from which the doll is constructed after said sheet is decorated with the desired design. The sheet is proportioned so thatit will form the proper sized body for the doll when said sheet is rolled to a double wrap so as to provide two thicknesses of paper at all parts to thereby give a stiff supporting body for the doll. The decoration or design 26 for the doll is placed on'about one-half of the sheet which forms the outer wrap or surface of the doll body when said sheet is roll d as shown in Fig. 11.

The inner side of the sheet 25 has the spaced lines 27 for the crown which indicate cuts to provide the crown strips 28 which interlap with one another thereby forming the curved crown of the head. It also has the narrower spaced lines 29 which indicate the neck and shoulder forming cuts to provide the interlapping strips 30 around the neck when contracted by drawing and tying the cord or strong thread 31. The rear side of the sheet 25 also has the arm portion 32 which is cut from the inner lower corner of said sheet 25 and has the central cross line 33 to indicate the crosswise cut dividing the portion 32 into two parts to form the two arms for the doll.

Each of the arm parts have the spaced lines 34 a spaced distance from one end of said arm portions to indicate the wrist cuts in the finished doll arm for interlapping contraction at the wrist of the arms when said arm portions are rolled as shown at 36 in Fig. 8. the short remaining lower end portion below the wrists being shaped into thehands 37 by flattening the tube by the use of paste within said ends to hold in form, and marking or cutting fingers thereon. The arms are each rolled from one-half of the piece 32 as shown at 36 in Fig. 8 in substantially the same manner that the body of the doll is rolled from the larger sheet 25. The wrist 38 is contracted by means of a thread drawn around the strips formed by the cuts 34 thereby drawing said strips into interleaving contact with one another to form the necessary shaping contraction at said wrist portion 38. The upper ends 39 of the arms are flattened and pasted together very much the same as the lower ends and the two arms are connected together and to the doll by a cord or thread 40 through the trunk portion 44 of the body of the doll, as shown in Figs. 2, 7 and 10. This simple arrangement permits the arms to hang naturally on each side of said trunk portion 44 of the doll.

The body of the doll is shaped and constructed by rolling the sheet 25 in such a manner as to bring the design decoration 26 on the outer side as shown in Figs. 2, 11 and 16, having first inserted the neck contracting thread 31 through the interlapping strip portions 30 as shown in Fig. 6, the thread 81 passing through the center 41 of each portion 30 and then passing beneath the edge of the next adjacent portion until the strip 30 adjacent to the middle strip 42 is reached when the thread 31 passes entirely across said middle strip 42 to the strip 30 on the opposite side. after which the manner of u sewing is reversed, the thread first passing over and then through and under one-half of each strip 30 instead of under through and then over, as on the first side of said central strip; thus on the first or left side of the dolls neck there will preferably be eight strips sewn through and on the right side of said doll there will preferably be seven strips sewn through.

The thread 31 is inserted through the strips 30 at 41 in the above described number of strips before the sheet of paper is rolled into the cylindrical form, said rolling be ginning from the undecorated edge 43 of the sheet 25, the short slits or cuts 29 having been made clear across the sheet 25 previous to sewing the same, so as to permit'contraction. The sixteen strips are so proportioned that they cover about half of the width of the strip 25 so that when rolled the ends of the thread 31 may be drawn thereby drawing in all the strips 30 and the front strip 42, interleaving said strips upon one another on account of the manner of sewing as above described, the flat front strip 42 aiding in the better shaping of the chin as said thread 31 is drawn to contract the neck. Said thread is then given a second wrap around the neck and tied, thereby completing the neck formation of the doll and dividing the roll into the body portion 44 and head portion 45.

The crown slits 27 are out before rolling the doll sheet. Said head portion 45 is preferably stuffed with soft tissue paper to better hold it in form, after which the strips 28 are interleaved or folded upon one another preferably as shown in Fig. 12. Two strips 28 from the opposite sides of the head portion 45 are drawn over the other interfolded strips 28 and sewn or otherwise connected together, as shown at 46 in Fig. 12, to thereby provide a loop through which a hair ribbon 47 may be inserted and tied over the inter-lapping strips 28 to thereby decoratively cover the construction of the crown of the head 44. The cuts 27 and strips 28 also assist the decoration in giving the appearance of hair to the crown of the head. The middle forehead strip 28 should be taken straight up beneath the strips connected at 46 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or be used as one of said strips, thereby better aiding in the formation of the forehead of the doll. This arrangement of the interfolding of the strips is preferred for the reasons given, though any such interfolding would serve the purpose fairly well. The two attached holding strips 28 may come from the right and left sides or from the front and rear without departing from my invention, being shown in Figs. 2 and 12 from the right and left sides, and in Figs. 14 and 15 from the front and rear.

For the irl doll or doll with skirts the tubular body 44 provides a stiff supporting portion upon the lower end of which the doll stands quite firmly when the sheet is rolled and secured in the cylindrical position by the thread 31 at the neck and the attached strips 28 at the top of the head. The outer lower corner of the sheet may also be attached to the adjacent inner wrap of the sheet 25 by a suitable adhesive. This, however, is not usually necessary. It is apparent that the body portion 44 forms a novel and convenient receptable for confections or other articles 67 at a low cost, a paper cap 52 being provided for the lower end of the tubular body 44 by a simple disk of soft paper and a rubber band or piece of narrow ribbon 53, thus providing a container that is both attractive and novel, and thus serves a double purpose.

For the girl doll also the tubular body provides a sufficiently broad lower end to form a convenient skirt or under garment by means of the simple decoration 48,, over which a dress 49 is placed, which dress is simply and asily constructed from crape or other paper in different colors and designs, the design shown in Fig. 1 being the foundation for other styles of garments, as it is apparent that the cape 50 shown in Fig. 1 can readily be drawn in around the bottom to form a shirt waist construction, and that any number of different designs or adaptations may be wrought from the same foundation garment 49.

The construction of the doll without legs 54 or girl doll thus far is the same as for the doll with legs or boy d011, the sheet 25 being used in the same manner for the boy doll with the exception that the decorative design may be adapted to a boy instead of a girl. The pants and blouse design of the boys garments of course necessitate a change.

In order to provide the lower limbs 54 for the doll a central lengthwise cut 51 is provided through the front and rear portions of the cylindrical body 40 to within a short distance of the level of the arms, as shown in Figs. 16 and 14. The two halves of the cylinder are each wrapped in tubular form as shown in Figs. 14 and 15, the outer wrap being given a diagonal draw toward the lower end on the rear side as shown at 62 in Fig. 15 so as to give the required taper to the legs 54. To obtain strong tubular lower limbs it is obvious that the open ended slot 51 must be extended far above the normal on a childs body. The construction of the upper end of the cut 51 for the legs 54 is shown in Fig. 21. It is apparent that a stay or holding means is necessary in order to prevent the tearing out of said out 51 on the opposite sides. Accordingly, a strip of strong paper 55 is placed around the body beneath the arm pits and attached to the body, the ends being attached to one another, preferably on the rear side as shown at 56. This provides a normal body shape for the doll which supports the outer garments 57 as for example a boys blouse and knee pants, in good form.

A foot or shoe is turned on the lower end of each tubular leg 54 by a crosswise cut 58 and a lengthwise'cut 59, thecrosswise cut permitting the turning of the lower end poltion of the leg to the horizontal position as shown in Figs. 13, 14, 15 and 20. The laps 63 may be attached by a suitable adhesive to the tubular leg 54 and the notched lower end 65 may be flattened as in the construction of the hand, and the toes may be marked or cut thereon or the foot may be flattened and pointed as shown in Fig. 20 and closed by adhesive at the toe 60 and by a tie 61 which gives it very much the appearance of a soft baby shoe.

Fig. 20 shows a detachable boot or shoe 66 which is so adjusted as to size of its leg that it springs onto the lower end of the leg 54 holding the shoe or boot firmly in position. The turned foot portion is attained by means of the cuts 58 and 59. The flattened toe 61 of said foot is formed in the curved or pointed shape by means of a V-shaped cut 65 as shown in Fig. 18 which permits the two sides of the tubular end of the leg 54 or shoe 66 to be attached to one another thereby holding them firmly in shape. The leg 54 is also preferably held in shape by means of elastic bands 64 which are usually called garters or elastics by the children, adding another lifelike touch to the construction of the doll.

It is now obvious that my process may be used to make a doll with or without legs as shown and that the doll with legs and the doll without legs are constructed substantially the same with the exception of the addition of the legs and feet or shoes. Also that the construction is quite simple and easily attained by the average child, making a most delightful toy as well as a helpful educative factor in the childs life, the idea being to lead the child into free and original pleasing work as an experimenter in the construction of the doll and the clothes for the same. The process of making the tubular paper doll is lar ely pointed out to the child on the rear of the sheet, leading the child in the first steps after which it may be led onward into different designs especially for the clothing and-decoration, such as the dress of other nationalities and other pleasing and educative designs.

It will be appreciated that the material used is easy of manipulation and the manner of use permits the production of large quantities for school use at an exceedingly low cost for the materials and plates necessary to print the decorative and constructive designs upon the construction sheets. At the same time the tubular double ply construction is exceedingly strong and durable, proving quite satisfactory to the child considering the material used.

I claim as new 1. The process of making a paper doll which consists in rolling a sheet of paper into a cylinder, contracting the neck portion to form head and shoulders, closing the crown of the head. rolling smaller paper tubes for the arms and attaching the upper ends or" said smaller tubes to the shoulder portion of the larger roll, and providing a suitable figure design for said tubular doll.

The process of making a doll which consists in printing the figure design on a portion of a sheet of 'paper, rolling said sheet of paper from the unprinted edge to bring the printed portion to the outer periphery of the paper tube doll body, slitting and contracting the neck portion to form a head and shoulders for the doll. slit ting the upper edge of said sheet of paper to form strips interleaving the strips to shape the crown of said head, tying a hair ribbon through said interleaved strips to cover the construction of said crown, rolling a pair of tubular arms and flattening the ends of said arms with an adhesive, shaping hands on the lower flattened ends of said arms, slit-ting and contracting the wrist portions of said tubular arms, and attaching said arms to the tubular body portion of the doll by a thread sewn through the flattened upper ends of said arms and the opposite shoulder port-ions of said doll body and tying the thread to permit said arms to swing naturally alongside said doll body.

3. The process of making a paper doll which consists in providing a sheet of paper with a series of alined spaced equal length cuts a spaced distance from the upper edge to form a neck line and permit contraction of said neck by a thread, and with a series of spaced open ended cuts in the upper edge oi said sheet, rolling said sheet into a tube, contracting said neck by drawing and tying said thread, closing the crown of. the head by intertolding and attaching the strip ends formed by said open ended cuts, forming arm pieces of paper rolled and flattened at the ends, and in providing said arm pieces with spaced lengthwise slits at the wrist line, and then in contracting said slittod wrist line With a thread.

4. The process of making a paper doll which consists in providing a series ct equally spaced alined cuts a spaced distance from the edge of a sheet of paper to provide a series of strips attached at each end, sewing a thread through the centers of eight of said strips starting the needle each time from the under side of each strip, then pass ing over the ninth strip and inserting said thread through the centers of seven more strips from the upper side of each strip, cut ting a series of crown strips along the edge or said sheet of paper, rolling said sheet of paper into a tubular body, contracting said strips attached at each end by drawing said thread around the tube and tying the same to shape the head and shoulders, interleaving-and attaching said crown strips to form the crown, rolling pieces of paper and fiattening the ends thereof to form tubular arms for said doll, contracting the tubular arms at the wrist line and attaching same at their upper ends by a thread through said tubular body to place said arms on the shoulders of said tubular body, and placing a suitable figure design for said doll on the outer side of said tubular body.

5. The process of making a paper doll which consists in providing a rectangular shaped sheet of paper with a series of alined spaced equal length marks a spaced distance from the upper end of said sheet of paper to form a neck line and permit contraction of said neck line after cutting on said marks, a series of spaced lines extending across the upper edge of said sheet to provide crown strips after being cut on said lines, and a figure design on the outer side of a portion of said sheet of paper, cutting on said series f neck line marks and said series of crown line marks, sewing a thread through the centers of a portion of the strips formed by said neck line cuts so as to draw the neck line strips into interleaving relation to one another, rolling said sheet of paper into a tube, drawing and tying said thread at the neck line to shape the neck, folding said crown strips into interleaving relation and attaching two of said crown strips to one another over the remainder to form the crown, and attaching rolled paper tubular arms to the shoulder portions of the tubular doll body.

6. The process of making a doll which consists in printing the figure design on a portion of a sheet of paper, rolling said sheet of paper from the unprinted edge to bring the printed portion to the outer periphery of the paper tube, slitting and contracting the neck portion to form a head and shoulders for the doll, slitting the upper edge of said sheet of paper to form strips interleaving the strips to close the crown of said head, tying a hair ribbon through said interleaved strips to cover the construction of said crown, rolling a pair of tubular arms and flattening the ends of said arms with an adhesive, shaping hands on the lower flattened ends of said arms, slitting and contracting the wrist portion of said tubular arms, and attaching said arms to the tubular body portion of the doll by means of a thread sewn through the flattened upper ends of said arms and the opposite shoulder portions of said doll body and tying the same to permit said arms to swing freely alongside said doll body, forming a front and rear central lengthwise cut in the tubular body to form legs, rolling said legs in tubular form and securing in place by suitable elastics, and providing shoes on the lower ends of said legs. 7

7. The process of making a doll which consists in printing the figure design on a portion of a sheet of paper, rolling said sheet of paper from the unprinted edge to bring the printed portion to the outer periphery of the paper tube, slitting and contracting the neck portion to form a head and shoulders for the doll, slitting the upper edge of said sheet of paper to form strips interleaving the strips to close the crown of said head, tying a hair ribbon through said interleaved strips to cover the construction of said crown, rolling a pair of tubular arms and flattening the ends of said arms with an adhesive, shaping hands on the lower flattened ends of said arms, slitting and contracting the wrist portion of said tubular arm, and attaching said arms to the tubular body portion of the doll by means of a thread sewn through the flattened upper ends of said arms and the opposite shoulder portions of said doll body and tying the same to permit said arms to swing freely alongside said doll body, forming a front and rear central lengthwise cut in the tubular body to form legs, rolling said legs in tubular form and securing same in place by suitable elastics, notching the lower ends of the legs and attaching the opposite sides by means of an adhesive and forming a crosswise cut and a lengthwise cut a spaced distance from said lower ends of the legs and bending the lower end portions of said legs into the form of a shoe or foot, and securing said lower end portions of the legs in the bent position.

8. A paper doll comprising a tubular body member and tubular arm members attached on said body member, said members having a series of spaced slits at the neck and wrist and crown portions to permit contraction of said wrist and neck portions and closing said crown by interleaving the crown strips formed by said series of slits at the crown.

9. A paper doll comprising a tubular body member of suflicient size to support the same on its lower end, tubular arm members attached on opposite sides of the shoulder portions of said tubular body member, said body member having a series of spaced slits at the neck line to permit contraction, a thread sewn through said strips and drawn and tied to contract the same to form head and shoulder portions for said doll, said head portion closed at the top and stuffed to preserve its form, said arm members shaped to form hands at their lower ends, gniil a suitable figure design onsaid tubular 10. A paper doll comprising a wrapped paper tube body held in form by a contracting thread around the neck portion to form head and shoulder portions, the top of said head closed, wrapped paper tube arms attached to the opposite shoulder portions of said tube, a figure design on said tube body, and a paper cap to close the lower end of said tube body to form a container of the same.

11. A doll having rolled paper body and arm and leg members, said members having a figure decoration on their outer side.

12. A doll having a rolled paper head formed with spaced cuts to form strips, said strips being overlapped and secured together to form the crown of the head.

13. A doll having a rolled paper head formed with spaced cuts to form strips, said strips being overlapped and secured together to form the crown of the head, two of said strips being secured together to form a loop, and a hair ribbon passed through the loop.

14. A doll having a rolled paper body and having a series of spaced slits at the neck line of the doll, and a thread engaging over the slits to contract the paper to form the neck of the doll.

15. A doll having a rolled paper arm formed with a series of slits in spaced relation to the free end of the arm, a thread engaging over the slits to contract the paper to form the wrist, the free end of the arm being flattened and having finger markings thereon.

16. A doll having a rolled paper leg the extremity of the lower end of which is flatcrosswise slit and the flaps resultant from 10 tened and having a lengthwise and a cross the lengthwise slit being secured to the leg.

wise intersecting slit to form a foot, the foot In testimony whereof I have aifixecl my being bent along the crosswise slit and the signature in the presence of two witnesses.

flaps resultant from the lengthwise slit be- GEORGIA B MURPHY ing secured to the leg.

17. A doll having it rolled paper leg prolVitnesses: viclecl with a lengthwise and a crosswise in H. A. SANDBERG, tersecting slit, the foot being bent along the H. P. ANDERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

